1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wheeled toys for children, and pertains more specifically to a wheeled toy in which conventional movement of a vehicle with steerable front wheels is provided in a toy with coordinated follower wheels at the front and means for providing steering torques at the rear. The vehicle is provided with a detachable steering column attached adjacent the rear of the vehicle which is rotated to provide steering torques on the vehicle itself and with front wheels which respond to those torques and simulate conventional front wheel steering. The steering column is terminated in a steering wheel which is engageable by the child and enables the child to walk behind the vehicle and the steering wheel in a conventional manner to generate steering torques on the vehicle about a vertical axis adjacent the rear of the vehicle. This is done while the child pushes the vehicle along a horizontal surface such as the floor simulating conventional full-scale vehicle operation. The steering wheel enables the child to walk behind the toy, to push it along a horizontal surface such as the floor and to control the direction in which the toy moves. The front wheels of the toy are rotated and positioned in the direction of the movement of the toy and correspond to the conventional position of wheels for a standard vehicle during turning.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Children prefer toys that are realistic. To satisfy this preference, toy makers expend great effort to simulate in their miniature replicas the features of the full-scale items. For example, the underside of a miniature automobile will frequently depict the automobile's transmission and exhaust system.
In the past, various steerable wheeled toys have been devised and used by children. Most of these steerable toys embody some of the features of the full-scale items they depict. The degree of entertainment provided to children by these toys is related to the realism of their features. One such feature involves the steering of the toy and this is sometimes accomplished with a small steering wheel in the vehicle coupled to the front wheels to simulate the conventional configuration. It has also been proposed to steer the front wheels by electrical or mechanical means from a position remote from the vehicle while it is being pushed or pulled by the child or propelled by a power source. To accomplish this type of steering, one must provide a way to steer the front wheels so that they point in the direction of desired movement and thus direct the vehicle. However, providing such steering in a toy either mechanically or electrically increases the complexity of the design and hence the cost to manufacture the toy.
The toy depicted in Vaughan U.S. Pat. No. 2,730,837, utilizes a rearward steering column for directing a vehicle but the front wheels and front end appear to be slidably swung in either direction when the toy is being steered and any simulation of standard vehicle steering is lacking.
Similarly Conry U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,307 uses a bearing block in which a tubular steering column is rotatably mounted, but the Conry toy lacks the realism and accurate simulation provided by the system of the instant invention.